Baby 'overdosed'

PUBLISHED: 06:17 31 August 2006 | UPDATED: 09:48 24 May 2010

Karson Bates with mum Jodie and dad Phil.

A FIVE-MONTH-OLD baby was given a dangerously high drugs overdose by an out-of-hours GP in Weston, it has been claimed. Baby Karson Bates went into a trance, doubled in size and turned bright red after being treated at the out-of hours GP clinic at Weston

A FIVE-MONTH-OLD baby was given a dangerously high drugs overdose by an out-of-hours GP in Weston, it has been claimed.Baby Karson Bates went into a trance, doubled in size and turned bright red after being treated at the out-of hours GP clinic at Weston General Hospital.His parents, Jodie and Phil, rushed him to Bristol Children's Hospital. They say doctors told them he had been injected with three times the normal dose of a muscle relaxant.Harmoni, the out-of-hours company the GP worked for, has terminated his employment and referred him to the General Medical Council (GMC), which is investigating the matter.His on-going work as a GP is conditional on GMC registration.Mr Bates, aged 23, of Weston Village, said: "Karson had been crying and suffering from stomach pains so we took him to Weston General Hospital."When they got home Karson's grandfather, Paul Rodgers, who has some medical training as a firefighter, noticed something was wrong."Mum Jodie, aged 21, said: "His pupils were fixed and he was shaking so we went straight up to Bristol. I took him out of the car and when I saw him in the light I didn't recognise him. He had almost doubled in size and gone bright red."I was hysterical and couldn't watch what the doctors were doing. It took a week for him to get back to normal and nobody can say yet whether there has been any long-term damage."A Harmoni spokesman said they had 'strong verbal assurances' the doctor was registered on a Primary Care Trust list, but is has since emerged he was not.The spokesman said: "We have taken internal action and reminded staff we need written evidence to prove they are on a list.